The European Medicines Agency (EMA) has recommended granting a marketing authorisation for Keytruda (pembrolizumab). It is recommended as monotherapy for the treatment of adult patients with advanced melanoma that cannot be surgically removed or where the cancer has spread to other parts of the body (unresectable or metastatic melanoma).

Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer and the leading cause of death from skin disease. The main risk factor for developing melanoma is ultraviolet (UV) light and intermittent exposure to the sun. In 2012 more than 100,000 Europeans were diagnosed with melanoma and around 22,200 were estimated to have died from the disease.

For more details, go to: http://www.ema.europa.eu/ema/index.jsp?curl=pages/news_and_events/news/2015/05/news_detail_002334.jsp&mid=WC0b01ac058004d5c1